Tomato, Italian Ice Hybrid

Short Description

Cooling, melt-in-your-mouth tomato taste sensation.

Full Description

Sugary sweet and bursting with juicy flavor, Italian Ice is a summer picnic treat. Clusters of 1-1 1/2" snack-sized fruits ripen from green to ivory white, becoming uniquely sweet and mild-tasting. Chill a bowlful for a satisfying portable snack when the sultry days of summer call for a cooling, melt-in-your-mouth taste sensation.

Type
Some flowers and vegetables fall into subcategories that may define how they grow (such as pole or bush), what they are used for (such as slicing tomatoes or shelling peas), flower type, or other designations that will help you select the type of a class of plant that you are looking for.

Cherry

Fruit Bearing
This refers to the relative season when the plant produces fruit, or if it bears continuously or just once

Indeterminate

Days To Maturity
The average number of days from when the plant is actively growing in the garden to the expected time of harvest.

65 days

Fruit Weight
The average weight of the fruit produced by this product.

1 ounces

Sun
The amount of sunlight this product needs daily in order to perform well in the garden. Full sun means 6 hours of direct sun per day; partial sun means 2-4 hours of direct sun per day; shade means little or no direct sun.

Video

How to Sow and Plant

Sow tomato seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost in spring using a seed starting kit

Sow seeds ¼ inch deep in seed-starting formula

Keep the soil moist at 75 degrees F

Seedlings emerge in 7-14 days

As soon as seedlings emerge, provide plenty of light on a sunny windowsill or grow seedlings 3-4 inches beneath fluorescent plant lights turned on 16 hours per day, off for 8 hours at night. Raise the lights as the plants grow taller. Incandescent bulbs will not work for this process because they will get too hot. Most plants require a dark period to grow, do not leave lights on for 24 hours.

Seedlings do not need much fertilizer, feed when they are 3-4 weeks old using a starter solution (half strength of a complete indoor houseplant food) according to manufacturer’s directions.

If you are growing in small cells, you may need to transplant the seedlings to 3 or 4 inch pots when seedlings have at least 3 pairs of leaves before transplanting to the garden so they have enough room to develop strong roots

Before planting in the garden, seedling plants need to be “hardened off”. Accustom young plants to outdoor conditions by moving them to a sheltered place outside for a week. Be sure to protect them from wind and hot sun at first. If frost threatens at night, cover or bring containers indoors, then take them out again in the morning. This hardening off process toughens the plant’s cell structure and reduces transplant shock and scalding.

Planting in the Garden:

Select a location in full sun with good rich moist organic soil. Make sure you did not grow tomatoes, peppers, eggplant or potatoes in the bed the previous year to avoid disease problems.

Prepare the bed by turning the soil under to a depth of 8 inches. Level with a rake to remove clumps of grass and stones.

Tomatoes should be set 30-48 inches apart in a row with the rows spaced 3-4 feet apart. It can be tempting to space tomatoes more closely at planting time, but if you plant too closely you will increase the chance of disease, and decrease yields.

Dig a hole for each plant large enough to amply accommodate the root ball.

Carefully remove the plant from its pot and gently loosen the root ball with your hands to encourage good root development.

Tomatoes can be planted deeply, with the stem buried to the first set of leaves. The more deeply they are planted the more roots will form, providing the plant with additional support and better ability to take up nutrients. Some gardeners plant tomatoes by digging a horizontal trench and laying the plant in the trench with the top 2-4 inches of the plant pointing upward.

Fill the planting hole with soil to the top and press soil down firmly with your hand leaving a slight depression around the plant to hold water.

Use the plant tag as a location marker. This is particularly important if you are trying different varieties. It is very difficult to tell which variety is which from the foliage.

Water thoroughly, so that a puddle forms in the saucer you have created. This settles the plants in, drives out air pockets and results in good root-to-soil contact.

Place your plant support at this time. You can try tomato cages or staking. Unsupported plants will sprawl on the ground, require no pruning, and will probably produce a larger yield of smaller fruit than will staked plants. For larger, cleaner, more perfect fruits, support plants as they grow. Growing on stakes: Place strong stakes in the ground and set plants about 6 inches from the stakes. Growing in cages: Place a cage around a single plant; let the vines grow and enlarge within the cage, no pruning will be necessary

How to Grow

Keep weeds under control during the growing season. Weeds compete with plants for water, space and nutrients, so control them by either cultivating often or use a mulch to prevent their seeds from germinating.

Mulches also help retain soil moisture and maintain even soil temperatures. This is especially important for tomatoes as their roots may be easily damaged when weeding, and this can lead to blossom end rot.

Keep plants well-watered during the growing season, especially during dry spells. Plants need about 1-2 inches of rain per week during the growing season. Use a rain gauge to check to see if you need to add water. It's best to water with a drip or trickle system that delivers water at low pressure at the soil level. If you water with overhead sprinklers, water early in the day so the foliage has time to dry off before evening, to minimize disease problems. Keep the soil moist but not saturated.

If growing on stakes: As the plants grow, allow only one or two main stems to grow and pinch out any other side shoots as they form. Gently tie the one or two remaining shoots to the stake; don't pull them tightly against the stake. If growing in cages, no pruning is necessary.

Whether to remove the side shoots, or suckers, that grow out of the leaf axils or not depends on the support system used. Gardeners using stakes usually snap off these side shoots. They typically get earlier and larger tomatoes but overall production tends to be less. If tomatoes are grown in cages, the suckers are generally left on, although it's a good idea to pinch the tip out of them when they are 6-8 inches long. Regardless you may want to remove all the growth from the bottom 6-10 inches of the plant. This helps to improve air circulation and reduce the spread of diseases such as early blight. Wait until the plants are knee-high. In the morning when the plants have the most water in them, snap off the lower growth while it is small. Any plants that look sick with distorted foliage or have a mosaic pattern on the leaves should be removed as they may have a virus that can spread to the other plants. It is best to do this early in the season.

Monitor for pests and diseases. Check with your local Cooperative Extension Service for pest controls recommended for your area.

Harvesting and Preserving Tips

Determinate tomato plants ripen a heavy crop over a few weeks. Indeterminate varieties bear fruit continuously until frost. Remember that the days to harvest refers to the time from setting out transplants in the garden.

Pick tomatoes when they are as ripe as possible. They should be fully colored and firm and picked regularly to avoid overloading plants.

At the end of the season, when you know there will be a frost, pick all the almost-ripe tomatoes you can, and ripen them in brown bags or spread on newspapers at room temperature. Many cultivars will store for months. Store only sound fruit, at 50-60°F. Do NOT refrigerate and try to avoid having the fruit touch each other.

The foliage of tomatoes is toxic and should not be eaten.

Tomato fruits are enjoyed in many cooked dishes as a flavoring. Use them to make soups, sauces, stews, ketchup, paste, juice, quiche, and pies. Add them to curries, casseroles, and chutney.

Product Details

Type

Cherry

Fruit Bearing

Indeterminate

Days To Maturity

65 days

Fruit Weight

1 ounces

Sun

Full Sun

Spread

18 inches

Height

60-72 inches

Sow Method

Indoor Sow

Sow Time

6-8 weeks BLF

Thin

6 inches

Reviews

Tomato, Italian Ice Hybrid is rated
3.5 out of
5 by
53.

Rated 3 out of
5 by
Ruth from
Jury is still outI really enjoy the Italian Ice Tomatoes. Got acquainted with them at a farmer's market, then order for myself the following year. This year I didn't have the usual good luck as in the past. Maybe it was just the growing season. The fruit we did get was good, just not as productive as in the past.

Date published: 2016-09-15

Rated 4 out of
5 by
wdwilson777 from
Beautiful, prolific tomato!Great tomato. Very firm with mild, light summer flavor!

Date published: 2016-08-29

Rated 4 out of
5 by
Tessiebea from
The gift that keeps on givingI bought this tomato last year very bushy plant with honey colored tomatoes they did well in the PNW where I live but just meh in flavor. But this year they reseeded themselves in the raised bed. they survived being transplanted and are growing strong. Very Cool! It is also a fun color to add to your cherry tomato mix.

Date published: 2016-08-26

Rated 3 out of
5 by
Cyradis from
Nothing wrong... but "meh"I can't find much wrong with this plant, but it isn't stellar either. The fruits are tasty, but not special. Not anything wrong either. They are oddly square fruit though, which is confusing. The plants are healthy. 1/2 of the plants is not producing, the other is doing fine. Yield is less than other cherry tomatoes (or I can't see the fruit in the tangle of vines). Ripe fruit is difficult to identify in my tomato wall, as once they are shaded by green leafs, the whiteness disappears.
Maybe I'll grow again, but others take priority.

Date published: 2016-08-12

Rated 1 out of
5 by
emmazoemom from
Very difficult plant, would NEVER grow again!I live in the PNW and bought the plants to get a head start, the 1st order died within days of arrival, the 2nd order was shipped when I wasn't home to receive them (they actually lived unexpectedly after nearing death's door), their replacement order died. After babying the 2nd order, I FINALLY have plants that went from anemic green to dark green and have produced tomatoes and am just waiting for them to ripen. They have been oh so difficult, I will never order them again. For comparison, I also ordered other tomato plants that are just doing BEAUTIFULLY and I couldn't be happier.

Date published: 2016-08-06

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Maggiesbj from
One of our favorites!We first grew Italian Ice in 2015 and loved it so much that we have decided to feature it in our garden again in 2016. On average we grow 6-10 varieties of tomatoes each year and this is one of our favorites of all time. We opted to buy Italian Ice in plant form so please note that I have no feedback on how this variety starts from seed. Our plant arrived happy and healthy roughly two weeks before the optimal time to plant it in our yard which worked fine for me. Within a month of planting, Italian Ice was the most robust tomato plant in the garden. It did require quite a bit of support but that is no surprise as by Labor day this beauty had topped out at over five feet. It was the last of all of our plants to produce fruit but once it got going it produced dozens upon dozens of mild, sweet, cream colored orbs right up until our first hard frost. We found these tomatoes to be perfect for fresh eating and a lovely additional to salads. Easy of the stomach and on the eyes I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this variety to anyone.

Date published: 2016-01-23

Rated 5 out of
5 by
HCinCbu from
Very determined to grow and hard to killWhen the wind knocked over my pot and the I neglected it and barely watered it, it grew down two steps, rerooted itself in the ground, and became at least 4 feet longer after that. I got probably 50 tomatoes off of one plant (some of which I actually ate- I forgot it was supposed to be a yellow/white tomato and was waiting for it to ripen. Normally I am on top of those things but I thought the Italian Ice had died and just left the pot up against the deck steps... very hardy little plant

Date published: 2015-12-07

Rated 4 out of
5 by
Bizenko from
Abundant GrowerI ordered Italian Ice as a mixed 3-pack of plants along with Fourth of July and Cloudy Day. (See my other reviews on them.)
The plants arrived May 8 with healthy roots and sturdy stalks in nice packaging. Because last frost wasn’t predicted until Mother’s Day, I didn’t plant them until May 23. They were tucked into a raised bed with a mixture of 1/3 Peat Moss, 1/3 Vermiculite and 1/3 organic compost.
I picked my first ripe tomatoes August 19. The flavor is mild, with low-acid, and the size is perfect for tossing in salads or for snacking. Mine were also yellow in color, not pale like the Burpee photos.
June was a wet month with 7 inches of rain and all three of my tomato plants from Burpee grew like gangbusters easily topping 6 feet tall. Italian Ice was slow to produce, but once it started it quickly became a heavy producer in a very short time. From Mid-August through September I picked more than 200 little yellow tomatoes keeping my co-workers stocked. The only disease I experienced was spotted leaf which affected all of the tomato plants come September.
Although satisfied with my growing experience, I won’t be planting this variety again. These come up short on flavor and I know there are better tasting yellow tomatoes available.